Top news: Pakistan calls its envoy in India back for consultations after Pulwama attack

The biggest stories of the day.

Pakistan on Monday called back its envoy from India for consultations, following an attack in Jammu in Kashmir last week in which 40 Army personnel were killed. Ties between Delhi and Islamabad have been extremely strained since the attack.

Two militants were killed in a gunfight in Pinglan area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday. Four Army personnel and a civilian also died. Reports have claimed the militants were from the same group behind the Pulwama attack on Thursday.

The Supreme Court on Monday set aside an order by the National Green Tribunal that had allowed the Sterlite plant in Thoothukudi to restart operations.

Here are the day’s biggest stories:

The Reserve Bank of India said on Monday that it will pay interim dividend of Rs 28,000 crore to the government. The decision to pay the interim dividend was taken at a post-Budget meeting of the central bank’s board of directors in New Delhi. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das chaired the meeting.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea challenging the Centre’s circular advising the media against using the word “Dalit” to refer to members of the Scheduled Caste, PTI reported. The petition was filed by advocate Sriram Parakkat who represented a group of individuals and organisations who are working for Dalit rights.

Indian indices slipped for the eighth straight day on Monday. The BSE Sensex slid 310.51 points to finish at 35,498.44. The National Stock Exchange Nifty fell 83.45 points to close at 10,640.95. The decline in stock markets over the last week can be attributed to caution ahead of the General Elections.

The Indian government on Monday suspended the Srinagar to Muzaffarabad “peace bus” service, following the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on February 14, which killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. The Jaish-e-Mohammed extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday condemned terrorism, saying it was a threat to global peace and stability. Modi was speaking at a joint press conference with Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri, who is on a three-day visit to India. Macri, while addressing the joint press conference, paid his condolences to the 40 personnel killed in the terror attack in Pulwama, South Kashmir, on February 14.

The International Court of Justice in the Hague on Monday began the four-day public hearings of the former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case. Jadhav is on death row in Islamabad after Pakistan charged him with spying for Indian intelligence agencies in 2016.

India’s counsel Harish Salve at the ICJ says Pakistan has no substantive defence in the matter and that the country has violated the Vienna Convention. India has demanded consular access to Jadhav under the rules of the Vienna Convention, but Pakistan has rejected the request repeatedly.

The Budget speech in the Punjab Assembly was disrupted on Monday as Cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu and Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Bikram Majithia engaged in a verbal battle. The Opposition party demanded that Sidhu resign for his remarks about the Pulwama attack last week.

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Monday said the Narendra Modi government has a zero tolerance policy for terror and that security forces retaliate at an appropriate time. His remarks come four days after 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama.

“The BJP government has held a strong policy to fight terrorism on all fronts and has been successful in it,” Shah said in Jaipur while addressing the party’s Shakti Kendra Sammelan. “Be it on the diplomatic front or about a bullet for a bullet, the BJP has always adopted a zero tolerance policy for terrorism.”

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it was not unusual for the Supreme Court Collegium to make changes in the recommendation of judges to the top court and to overlook seniority in the appointment of judges.

India needs “fewer and mega banks” that are strong, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said after meeting the board of the Reserve Bank of India on Monday. Jaitley said specific details of the interim dividend that the central bank will pay the government were not discussed in the meeting.

Pakistan on Monday recalled its ambassador in India for consultations as escalating tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad, said Dr Mohammad Faisal, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Sunday asked why India was scared to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir, and referred to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir as “Azad Kashmir” while speaking at an event in Chennai.

Former Darbhanga MP and cricketer Kirti Azad on Monday joined the Congress after he was suspended from the Bharatiya Janata Party in December 2015. Azad was set to join the Congress on Friday but postponed it after the Pulwama attack.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to allow the reopening of Vedanta’s Sterlite plant at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, setting aside an order of the National Green Tribunal. The top court asked the Tamil Nadu government and Vedanta to approach the Madras High Court on the matter.

Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal on Sunday hit back at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party government’s “Make in India” policy after the Vande Bharat Express broke down twice in its first journey. Goyal said the Congress chief had “insulted India’s intelligence and hard work by mocking Make in India”.

Union minister KJ Alphons on Sunday wrote to Kerala’s police chief, alleging that some people were spreading false news online about a photo of his taken at the funeral of a Central Reserve Police Force jawan who was killed in last week’s militant strike in Jammu and Kashmir. It was being called a “selfie” even though it was not, he claimed.

Four Army personnel, including a Major, were killed in an encounter with suspected militants in Pinglan area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday. One soldier was injured. At least three militants are believed to be trapped at the site.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday said the terror attack on personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama showed that the “attack of Mughals is not over yet”. Forty personnel were killed in the attack on Thursday.

The International Court of Justice will commence public hearings of the former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case on Monday. Jadhav is on death row in Islamabad after Pakistan charged him with spying for Indian intelligence agencies in 2016.

Two Youth Congress workers were hacked to death in Kerala’s Kasaragod district on Sunday night, The Indian Express reported. The Congress blamed the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the deaths and called for a shutdown in the district on Monday.

The Central Reserve Police Force has clarified that air support can only supplement convoys and not replace them. The paramilitary force was responding to news reports that have claimed it was denied the air transit it wanted for the convoy that was attacked in Pulwama last Thursday.

Former chief of Research and Analysis Wing, Vikram Sood, on Sunday said terror attacks like the one in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama do not take place without a lapse in security. He made the observation on the sidelines of a seminar in Hyderabad.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said jobless growth, rural indebtedness and urban chaos has left the aspirational youth of the country restless, PTI reported. He made the remark at the convocation address at the Delhi School of Management.